Canadians cast their votes tomorrow for the 2019 Federal Election.

Over the past forty days, Foothills residents had a few chances to get to know their five local candidates at forums, public appearances, and through local media.

Voters in the Foothills riding will have five choices on their ballots: incumbent Conservative MP John Barlow, Liberal Cheryl Moller, Mikail Hendi of the New Democratic Party, the Green Party's Bridget Lacey, and Greg Hession with the People's Party of Canada.

When asked about which issues residents were most passionate about, all five candidates pointed to the economy. The energy sector seemed to be at the forefront of residents' minds, though Barlow and Moller also made mention of agriculture and small business having been brought up by a few residents

The Eddie Maurice case also seems to have reinvigorated the conversation around self-defence and gun control, which Hession says was a reoccurring theme he encountered in his campaign.

Barlow says residents have been more passionate during this election than he's ever seen before.

"The engagement at the doors is like nothing I've ever had before. Typically people (say) 'okay, there's an election on? Okay, I'll be there,' people are very adamant this time around, 'I know there's an election on, I will be voting.'"

He says he's never seen his constituents more passionate politically.

Moller says she was pleased to see a warmer reception than she had expected in a historically conservative riding.

"It was probably better than I thought it would be. I thought, in this riding where the Conservatives got 75%, I thought I would be eaten alive. Generally the people I've met have been very magnanimous and kind. Even in the debates where the room was full of conservatives, they were very polite. I appreciate that."

Barlow feels there is a lack of a connection to the riding itself when it comes to some of his fellow candidates.

"I'm never a fan of candidates coming out from Northwest Calgary to run here. I think if you want to run and represent a rural riding you should have some roots here, you should be living here, you should understand the constituents here. I don't think someone from Northwest Calgary can do that. We certainly haven't seen the other candidates campaigning maybe as much as I'd normally see."

The local candidates engaged in several candidate forums, each conducted in a fairly similar manner, with candidates given a small amount of time to respond to questions one by one.

While all five candidates commented on the civil and courteous nature of these forums, Hession took issue with the format.

"I think that the forums lack a certain openness and they lack a certain edge that I think some Canadian political types are really wanting to see, where we actually get into debates, where we can address some of the things that are being said by our competition and try to deconstruct their arguments logically. Unfortunately with the forums that we're being offered, we don't have that opportunity to really engage in debate."

Each candidate acknowledged a notable difference in rapport between Foothills candidates as opposed to party leaders, the latter of which Bridget Lacey says she was disappointed with.

"(Discourse) was much more respectful at the local level. The mudslinging, the diversion from the actual issues that happens at the federal level is really disheartening, and to see that so much attention gets paid to these scandals and these missteps and personal foibles of these politicians, when we really need to be thinking about these issues and not these personalities."

Moller expressed a similar discontent with the leaders' campaigns.

"It's extremely partisan, this election, and very attacking. This is the part about politics that I do not like. Why can't we get in a room and decide what is best for the most people and try to make decisions that way? But no, it's always we try to find as much dirt as we can. There has been some terrible, terrible misinformation out there."

Hendi says he feels the NDP and their leader Jagmeet Singh benefited from the sometimes heated exchanges.

"I think Trudeau and Scheer are largely concerned with each other, which I think left us very nicely in the position of the calm mediators. It's been no contest for me; leadership-wise, Jagmeet has come out on top."

Hession took issue with the mainstream media's coverage of the election, particularly their coverage of the PPC, which he says was lacking, and had a derogatory element which labelled the party as racist, homophobic, and xenophobic.

"It does a huge disservice to democracy and to the people of Canada that number one, deserve to have an option like the People's Party of Canada on the political stage, and number two, deserve better information from the news media that they're funding with their tax dollars."

Hession says when Canadians finally head to the polls on Monday, they should do so having done their research to compare each party's values to their own.

"You need to vote with your values, that's how democracy works. That's how you ultimately get what you want. Voting for a party out of fear or hatred for another party to prevent them from coming back in is not a winning strategy. The more people vote for what is right, the more chances those values have at surviving. The more people that vote for the lesser of two evils, chances are you'll always end up with more evil."

Hendi shared a similar sentiment.

"I've said it before, for everyone in the riding, vote your conscience. You know what all your candidates have to offer now, you've heard a lot of information going in multiple directions, you know what you need to do. Vote for what you believe is right."

 

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